A Press Democrat Blog

Cohn Zohn

Lowell Cohn's pertinent and impertinent take on sports

Jimmy Raye and revisionist history

Wednesday, at 11:42 by

A new storyline has emerged about Jimmy Raye, former offensive coordinator. According to this line — I call it revisionist history — Jimmy Raye wasn’t such a bad coordinator. He was a good soldier who followed Mike Singletary’s orders and Singletary ordered that horrid offense. If Singletary ordered something better, Raye could have produced that. I am not making a case for Singletary. The evidence suggests he is not a good head coach and his offensive philosophy is Stone Age.… Read More »

More Raye

Monday, at 11:43 by

I’m reading QB coach Mike Johnson will be the 49ers new offensive coordinator. He can’t be any worse than Jimmy Raye. But here’s the point. Will Singletary allow Johnson to be creative, to call a game like the Chiefs called on Sunday? If so, great. If Singletarty insists on his outmoded notion of “balance,” Johnson is merely another dead duck.

Singletary and Raye clueless

Sunday, at 10:48 by

I’m linking down below to my Monday column. This is not a column I wanted to write and none of what I wrote makes me happy. But I wrote what I believe to be the truth. Mike Singletary and Jimmy Raye are clueless. Singletary needs to get rid of Raye fast. If nothing improves Singletary needs to get rid of himself. The Niners are a mess and, among the coaches, Singletary and Raye are most to blame. To read my… Read More »

49ers way on the defensive

Thursday, at 10:45 by

I wrote my Friday column based on the press conference in Santa Clara on Thursday. The Niners are on the defensive, way on the defensive. They are defending their loss in Seattle and they are defending their play calling and they are in general defending themselves. Most on the defensive was offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye, who acted like a man on the witness stand, a man accused of a serious crime. To read my column about the Niners on the defensive… Read More »

Jimmy Raye defends himself

Thursday, at 6:20 by

Jimmy Raye defended himself today against Yahoo insinuations that he’s slow to get plays to the field and gets muddled. One reporter mentioned the article to Raye and used the word “garbled” to refer to Raye’s communication during games.  Raye: Who’s Yahoo?  Reporter: Yahoo sports, Jason Cole.  Raye: I don’t know the guy. We lost the game in seattle. It goes with the territory. I bear my brunt of the responsibility for what took place up there. I’ve done this… Read More »

More 49ers communications messups

Wednesday, at 12:32 by

Several alert Cohn Zohn readers alerted me to this article — a must read. Yahoo Sport’s Jason Cole wrote a dynamite piece on the 49ers’ problems getting in plays which we saw in Seattle. According to Cole — who cites anonymous sources, but sources, nonetheless — these problems have been going on quite a while, Raye sometimes gets confused and calls plays from memory — sometimes incorrectly — and there is a simmering alienation between players and coaches. The players… Read More »

More Smith slams Raye and coaching staff

Monday, at 3:15 by

Here is my Monday column about the Niners and their total confusion in Seattle. Alex Smith certainly put it to offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye. This does not let Smith off the hook, Smith and his pathetic 52.5 passer rating. He was awful. But the Niner awfulness goes deeper than the quarterback, goes all the way to the offensive coordinator and the head coach. Can they improve? That is the key question as the 49ers move toward their showdown with Super… Read More »

Smith knocks Raye some more

Sunday, at 10:46 by

I just sent in my column but I thought I’d give you a preview. Here is a quote from Alex Smith indicating Raye did not get key calls in on time and that meant Smith had to waste all his timeouts in the first half. See what you think: “For whatever reason most of (the timeouts) occurred on third-and one, fourth-and-one so yeah whatever it is, deciding on what personnel would go in, deciding on if we would go for it, that… Read More »

Smith knocks Raye

Sunday, at 9:24 by

Another quickie post before I get into my column. Alex Smith subtly complained about the playcalling. He said, “We certainly didn’t stretch them (Seattle) or take shots. In the second half we didn’t take any shots downfield either.” He meant the playcalling was stodgy and the Niners did not go on the attack. That’s how I take it and I agree. Smith took more shots at Raye. That’s what I’m writing my column about and when it comes out I will… Read More »

Jimmy Raye needs to use Brian Westbrook correctly

Tuesday, at 11:34 by

I dare Jimmy Raye to use Brian Westbrook the right way. I double dare him. What we know about Raye is this. He’s bright but he’s conservative — highly conservative. He wants a savage running game and a limited passing game. I don’t like that formula — it seems Stone Age to me — but I could be wrong. Well, now Raye has Westbrook a truly versatile back — think Roger Craig. Westbrook can run and he can fake out… Read More »